Houston FBI leads global search for victims of predator teacher

Victims sought of American who taught abroad since '72

Updated 10:44 am, Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Photo: HOPD

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This combination of photos provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows William James Vahey in 2013, left, and 2004. The FBI is asking for help to identify at least 90 victims of Vahey's, a suspected serial child predator who worked in American schools worldwide for four decades. Vahey, 64, killed himself in Luverne, Minn., on March 21. (AP Photo/FBI) less

This combination of photos provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows William James Vahey in 2013, left, and 2004. The FBI is asking for help to identify at least 90 victims of Vahey's, a suspected ... more

Photo: HOPD

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The Houston FBI is leading a global search for victims of pedophile William James Vahey, shown here in 1995.

The Houston FBI is leading a global search for victims of pedophile William James Vahey, shown here in 1995.

Photo: FBI

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The Houston FBI is leading a global search for victims of pedophile William James Vahey, shown here in 2004.

The Houston FBI is leading a global search for victims of pedophile William James Vahey, shown here in 2004.

Photo: FBI

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The Houston FBI is leading a global search for victims of pedophile William James Vahey, shown here in 2013.

The Houston FBI is leading a global search for victims of pedophile William James Vahey, shown here in 2013.

Photo: FBI

Houston FBI leads global search for victims of predator teacher

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FBI agents from Houston are spearheading an international probe to determine how many students at elite private schools in nine countries fell victim to a teacher who authorities contend was a serial predator for more than four decades.

The local agents went public with their investigation Tuesday, saying they may never know how many victims William James Vahey exploited during a global career that began in 1972 after he stopped registering for a molestation conviction in California.

A thumb drive holds photos that show he had at least 90 victims since 2008 alone, according to the Houston FBI agents who are leading the ongoing global probe to find his victims as well as determine the extent of his crime.

Vahey, 64, committed suicide in a Minnesota hotel room last month before he could be arrested and perhaps provide some answers.

"This is one of the most prolific and heinous suspected sexual predator cases we have ever seen," said Shauna Dunlap, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Houston Division.

"It appears he was able to perfect his craft in such a way these children were unable to know what happened to them and unable to report it," she said. "He has been teaching overseas the entire time. We strongly believe there are more victims."

Houston FBI agents started investigating in March as they have an expertise in child predators and are part of an international team that travels abroad to help in cases in which Americans are suspected of breaking U.S. federal laws.

Vahey has residences in London and Hilton Head, S.C. He has taught in Iran, Lebanon, Spain, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Venezuela and London. He was most recently in Nicaragua, where in 2013 he was contracted as a ninth-grade history teacher at the American Nicaraguan School.

The schools are often preferred by the families of American diplomats, military personnel and business executives, especially from energy companies, stationed abroad.

The school in London did not respond to comment, but Vahey's wife, Jean, is the executive director of the European Council on International Schools and was previously the superintendent of Esceula Campo Alegre, in Caracas, Venezuela, where William Vahey worked from 2002 to 2009.

The Caracas-based school's current superintendent, Gregory Hedger, confirmed that Jean Vahey no longer worked there and had moved on to the London-based position.

He said word of William Vahey's alleged actions against teenage students came as a shock to the school.

"We have been following up and working very closely with the FBI for a couple of weeks now," Hedger said.

He declined to comment on whether there was any suspicion that William Vahey could have been enabled by his wife's position in the administration.

One-year tenure

Mike Cole of Cypress remembers Vahey as a teacher at the Tehran American School where he was a student in the early 1970s.

"I remember him being a seventh- or eighth-grade history teacher in Tehran," said Cole, now 57. "I find it strange that he was only there for a year. Makes me wonder if the administration knew something. I feel so sorry for any of the victims. We had a very large and caring American community."

It was in Nicaragua last year that his scheme was finally uncovered by a housekeeper who was fired by the school for stealing from Vahey, according to the FBI.

Months later she went back to school administrators with the thumb drive that she had taken from him that was filled with images of Vahey and nude teenage boys who appear to be unconscious or sleeping.

When confronted by a school administrator, Vahey allegedly admitted to his crimes and was fired, according to an affidavit filed at the federal courthouse in Houston.

"I was molested as a boy, that is why I do this. I have been doing this my whole life," Vahey said, according to the affidavit. Vahey insisted that he "never hurt" any of the boys and that they didn't even know what happened to them because they were asleep.

Public appeal

As the FBI posted an appeal to the public to come forth with information about Vahey's crimes, word spread among some social media sites.

Vahey taught history, geography, social studies and also coached boys junior varsity basketball teams and regularly accompanied students on overnight field trips, according to the FBI.

Stephen Morris, special agent in charge of the FBI's Houston Division, said even though Vahey is dead, the case is far from over.

"With him being deceased, we aren't just going to let the case be resolved like that," he said.

The FBI has made finding his victims a top priority, to see if they are in need of any help.

"History has shown that people who have been traumatized and victimized carry that throughout their lives, not feeling they have the resources to redress it," he said.

Morris said an additional factor is learning all that is possible about what Vahey did to stop it from happening again.

"We look at each one of these cases and identify ... how did they do it, how did they get away with it, in hopes of identifying any gaps that would allow someone to slip through the cracks and be undetected," he said.

"Every time we work one of these cases we are hoping to learn a little more about these individuals to identify someone before they do it or become prolific at it."

No cure

Lawrence Thompson Jr., director of the Houston-based Children's Assessment Center, which helps victims of sexual abuse and their families, said victims might not have memories of what happened, but still need assistance.

"There may be people suffering, and they don't even know why they are suffering," he said.

As for child predators, he has seen cases in which they have had hundreds of victims over the course of many years. "What we know about pedophiles is we have no cure for pedophilia," he said.

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